DURHAM, N.C. - Duke Athletics stands in 15th place in the latest winter Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Standings, released by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics on Thursday.

Overall, Duke has 516.60 points and ranks third among private institutions behind Stanford (1st) and Notre Dame (4th). Five current Atlantic Coast Conference schools are ranked among the top 26 – North Carolina (5th), Florida State (7th), Duke (15th), Virginia Tech (25th) and Virginia (26th). The Blue Devils ended up with a 16th-place finish in 2011-12.

Duke, which improved 10 spots in the rankings from a week ago, added 146 points from its previous point total based on Elite Eight NCAA Tournament appearances by its men’s and women’s basketball programs.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's national finish in up to 20 sports -- 10 women’s and 10 men’s.

The final Division I winter standings will be released Thursday, April 25, after the completion of men’s hockey, women’s bowling and men’s and women’s gymnastics championships.